Strawberry Basil Jam

Weather: 42 degrees, breezy
What I’m listening to: Two is Better Than One, Boys Like Girls

I may have just died and gone to jam heaven. You didn’t know there was a jam heaven, eh? Neither did I until today.

Homemade jam isn’t difficult to make and it doesn’t need to become a huge canning production if you don’t want it to. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a canning fan. But, you don’t have to let the idea of canning a huge batch stop you from having fresh jam on-hand. This recipe is for one jar of jam, so there’s no canning required. Just cook it up and refrigerate to use this week. But hey, if you want to make a huge batch of this and go canning crazy, this recipe is easily adapted to much larger quantities. This would make a beautiful gift for friends and neighbors (say, for Mother’s Day).

This jam is just perfect for me – sweet, but not too sweet, thick, but not too thick. It’s full of all-natural, fresh, honest ingredients. The basil and vanilla in this recipe balance out the tartness and acidity of the strawberries and lemon in just such a way as to make those who taste it wonder what makes it so special. It tastes like glorious warm weather on toast.

Strawberry Basil Jam

Place all the ingredients into a dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat, stirring often.

When sugar has dissolved, using an immersion blender, blend the mixture until mostly smooth, with some larger chunks remaining. (Don't have an immersion blender? Try mashing with a potato masher).

Increase heat to high and bring to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil until the mixture reaches 220 degrees and coats your spoon. Pour hot mixture into a glass jar or jars - I use a funnel for this (one 12oz jar should do).

If jam is going to be consumed right away (within the week), there is no need to process the jar; just stick it straight into the refrigerator.

This has been on my list for a while, and I just cooked it up. It's still very runny, but it was ridiculously easy to make. I'm hoping it thickens up in the fridge... any reason pectin wasn't used in this recipe? This was my first time making jam, but it seems like pectin is a pretty standard ingredient.

Feel free to use pectin in this recipe. Typically, when boiled long enough, it doesn't require pectin (but it does make for a looser jam, as opposed to a congealed jelly). Perhaps you had a wonderfully juicy batch of strawberries? :) I hope it firmed up enough for your liking in the fridge; it really is delicious.

Just for reference, I boiled it to 220 degrees exactly then removed from heat. After being in the fridge for about 5 hours, it had the consistency of thick mustard. Definitely not as thick as store-bought jam, but oh-so-delicious! I think next time I will reduce the sugar to 1/2 cup and see what happens. Also, I'm no canning expert but I reused an old glass olive jar with a screw top lid and poured the hot jam into it right after it finished boiling, screwed on the lid, and stuck it in the fridge. 5 hours later, I guess the hot liquid created a vacuum, because the screw top safety bubble thing in the middle was depressed, not popped up as with opened jars. Maybe it would be able to keep for quite a while this way (though I'm not sure it will last, it's so good!) Thanks for the great recipe. Strawberry and basil.... who knew?!